


Sight of the Sun

by lahdolphin



Series: Of Monsters and Men [3]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Adopted Children, Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Established Relationship, Family, Found Family, Kid Fic, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:47:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27525625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lahdolphin/pseuds/lahdolphin
Summary: The end is surprisingly simple. There is no death, no further loss of limb, no life at stake. But still, as every man does, Iwaizumi falls. When Iwaizumi is fifty and defeated by his daughter, that is the end.
Relationships: Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru
Series: Of Monsters and Men [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1824544
Comments: 10
Kudos: 53





	Sight of the Sun

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is a more elaborate conclusion to the endings mentioned in [Stars Aligned](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15589377/chapters/36193968):
> 
>  **Iwaizumi** settles down in a small oasis in Inarizaki under a different name and establishes a mercenary group with his friends and other half. Between Iwaizumi and Oikawa, they train a dozen young apprentices that call them Master, but only one young girl named Yui calls them Father and Dad. Tales of their legendary victories become songs that travel as far as Karasuno, where a certain queen fondly recites them to her grandchildren.
> 
>  **Oikawa** gives up his name, his title, and his pride to live his days as a common mercenary. They begin to call Oikawa the Silver Elf to reflect his ethereal beauty, his legendary skill with the bow, and his silver hair. Oikawa does not turn gray when he ages, shining brightly through the ages. Even in old age, Oikawa Tooru is the most beautiful man Iwaizumi has ever seen. 

Iwaizumi knew that one day, something or someone would be the end of him.

Nothing lasts forever in this world, except perhaps the gods, though Iwaizumi never had much faith in them to begin with. He inherited that from his father, who always said it would be a man that would kill him, not a god. In the end, it wasn’t a man that killed his father. It was a boar’s tusk taken in defense of the king and a long battle with an infection that eventually took him. 

For a while, Iwaizumi thought that he would die for a king, too. A different king, preferably, but a king nonetheless. But time is a funny thing. Fate, Oikawa would say, is a funny thing. Iwaizumi never had much belief in fate, either. Fate didn’t lead him to this place. His actions led him here.

He chose to follow Oikawa as his knight.

He chose to save him as his partner.

And he chose to follow him once more as a mercenary.

It isn’t a safe line of work, but it’s no more dangerous than being a knight to the king. The ultimate outcome doesn’t change. Eventually, one day, something or someone would be the end of him.

When he was seventeen and trapped in a cave with a rotten wound, having never held the man he loved so dearly, he thought that would be the end.

When he was twenty-seven and faced down that blasted demon that stole his king, his partner, his _everything_ from him, he thought that would be the end. 

When he was thirty and held in that twisted arena, forced to fight while he was starved and treated like an animal, he thought that would be the end.

When he was thirty-one and Oikawa came home with a baby girl they named Yui, he thought that would be the end.

When he was thirty-eight and lost his left arm, he thought that, too, would be the end.

He should have fallen so many times to so many enemies, yet he never did. He should have given up, should have stopped, so many times, yet he never did.

The end is surprisingly simple. There is no death, no further loss of limb, no life at stake. But still, as every man does, he falls.

When he is fifty and defeated by his daughter, that is the end.

The sun is in the sky for the first time in three days, the grass is wet on the back of his neck, and he swears his fingers are still wrinkled and pruned from soaking away the aches of his age in the bath last night. His stub hurts more in the rainy season and it gets worse every year. This year is the worst yet.

When his back hits the grass behind Blue Castle, he does not let his head fall right away. He may have fallen, but he is not defeated. It takes him some time to realize this is it, the moment he has always dreaded. The moment comes slow and it does not feel like a defeat.

Closer to the building, a few of the other mercenaries are watching as they eat breakfast. There’s almost always a crowd whenever Yui challenges Iwaizumi or Oikawa. They are all proud of her and enjoy watching her grow. They may not be her parents, but they are her family, too.

At the edge of the yard, Oikawa is sitting under the shade of the orange trees. He watches as their daughter stands over her father, a wooden sword to his chest, her own chest heaving hard. Oikawa looks at her with the same sort of intense pride he has when he sinks his arrow into a difficult target.

 _She beat me_ , Iwaizumi thinks. The thought comes as a relief. After Kageyama, she was the only child Iwaizumi taught to fight and she is fierce. He knows that wherever she goes, she will be alright, just like somewhere far away, Kageyama is alright.

“I won,” she says, like she can’t believe it.

Iwaizumi lets his head fall back. He releases his hold on his wooden training sword, letting that fall, too. He looks up at the blue sky, not a cloud in sight, then closes his eyes and soaks in the sunlight.

These days, he has more battles with aching bones than with metal. His body hurts more days than not. He is fifty and finally feels old for the first time in his life.

“I beat you,” his daughter says. Then, she’s laughing, unbelieving, like this is a dream. “Father, I beat you!”

“Yeah,” Iwaizumi says, smiling. “You did.”

Iwaizumi opens his eyes and looks up at the woman he raised.

Oshiro Yui looks nothing like the woman she was named after, except perhaps for her short stature. She has hazel eyes and her skin is darker than even Iwaizumi’s. Yui may not look like Michimiya, but Iwaizumi sees Michimiya in her all the time—in her heart, in her passion, in her hope, and in her stubborn refusal to give up and admit defeat, no matter the odds. 

Yui sets down her wooden sword and holds out her hand the way he has for her all these years. He takes it, allowing her to pull him to his feet for the first time. When he rises, he does not let go, pulling her close and hugging her tight, her face buried in his chest.

“She did it!” Hanamaki is shouting, running into Blue Castle to tell the others. “Yui beat Hajime!”

Yui tilts her head back, positively beaming. She may not have their blood, but she has Oikawa’s smile and Iwaizumi’s laugh.

He knew it would come to this. Oikawa did, too. They knew the second they decided to take her in nineteen years ago.

This is the end.

Iwaizumi pulls away and tilts his head to Oikawa. He says, “Go hug your dad, too.”

Smiling widely, Yui sprints over and tackles Oikawa to his back. The noise Oikawa makes has Iwaizumi laughing through the aches and pains of his age.

Then, lying in the grass, Oikawa wraps his arms around her and tells her something Iwaizumi cannot hear. No doubt its words of love they have told her again and again.

Matsukawa and Kindaichi come running out the backdoor into the yard along with half the mercenaries in Blue Castle. They linger at the edge of the grass, all of their eyes trained on Iwaizumi, waiting for his confirmation. Some of them, like Kimura and Yahaba, have been here from the start. Others are newer, but they are family to Yui all the same.

“She beat me,” he says with a shrug. “It was about time, too.”

Kunimi comes up to Iwaizumi, silent and undetected. Iwaizumi doesn’t startle.

“You know you’ll have to keep your promise,” Kunimi says.

“I know.”

Yui had been thirteen when he made her that promise. _The day you beat me or your dad, you’re free to travel wherever you want._

Iwaizumi looks at Kunimi, who is watching Yui carefully. Iwaizumi gently knocks into him and says, “You can say you’ll miss her. No one will make fun of you, Uncle Kira.”

Kunimi glares at him, then returns his eyes to Yui, who is standing up and leaving Oikawa’s side to run towards the crowd of mercenaries that came to congratulate her.

“Of course, I’ll miss her,” Kunimi says. “You don’t spend nineteen years with someone and forget them so easily.”

The others are hugging Yui now, congratulating her as she’s passed around from person to person in celebration until Hanamaki hoists her up onto Matsukawa’s shoulders. She laughs the whole time. She is so young, her whole life is ahead of her.

He remembers being nineteen. He remembers snow and the taste of venison. He remembers fingers stained with berries and Oikawa smiling so brightly after shoving snow down Iwaizumi’s shirt that Iwaizumi thought he would go blind if he looked any longer. He remembers thinking that he would never hold that man in his arms and that he could live a happy life just being by his side, protecting him.

Now, Iwaizumi goes and sits next to Oikawa under the orange trees. Oikawa, too, has aged, though much more gracefully than Iwaizumi. His hair is silver, not gray, and longer than it’s ever been. He has wrinkles around his eyes and mouth from a life full of laughter, and he is still so damn beautiful when he smiles that Iwaizumi still thinks he might go blind.

“It was a good run, wasn’t it?” Iwaizumi asks as the memories of the past wash over him.

Oikawa rests his head on his shoulder. “The best.”

They need to talk to Kindaichi about taking over the mercenaries. They need to make sure Yui has everything she needs for whatever adventure she embarks on. They need to make sure they have everything they need for whatever adventure they embark on.

Because when they made that promise to Yui, they made a promise to each other. When she leaves, they leave, too.

“Where do you want to go?” Iwaizumi asks.

“With you?" Oikawa says mirthfully, as if there is any doubt Iwaizumi would be coming with him. "Anywhere and everywhere, to the end of the world.”

Oikawa smiles like their daughter, not a trace of his past on his face, and looks out towards the sun. Between them, he grabs Iwaizumi’s hand and squeezes tight.

Iwaizumi says, “To the end of the world it is.”

**Author's Note:**

>  _“For once there is nothing up my sleeve_  
>  _Just some scars from a life that used to trouble me_  
>  _I used to run at first sight of the sun_  
>  _Now I lay here waiting for you to wake up"_  
>    
> _Sight of the Sun — Fun._   
>    
>    
> Like the first chapter of Eye of the Storm, I wrote a version of this fic immediately after finishing Stars Aligned. I actually looked at the date I created the word document and it was August 14, 2019 (the last chapter of Stars Aligned was published August 8, 2019). This is the happily-ever-after I imagined for Iwaizumi and Oikawa when I first wrote the epilogue blurbs for Stars Aligned, and I'm glad I finally feel comfortable enough to share it. Though this is the ultimate "end" of this universe, or at least for what I have in mind for Iwaizumi and Oikawa, I still have other stories I want to write that take place before this one. 
> 
> I have to thank both [possibledreamswriting](http://possibledreamswriting.tumblr.com/)/[vanz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vangie/pseuds/vanz) and [zelda_writes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zelda_writes/works) for looking over this for me and for always letting me talk about this universe with them. Whenever I write notes thanking them, it never feels like it's enough, as if I can't convey my gratitude. They are a huge support and I wouldn't be posting fics for this universe without them. 
> 
> **[Tumblr tag](http://lahdolphin.tumblr.com/tagged/stars-aligned-fic) | [Twitter](https://twitter.com/lahdolphin) | [Pinterest board](https://www.pinterest.com/writingthoughtsandthings/wip-stars-aligned)**


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